


Raw

by Anonymous



Category: Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Canon Compliant, Crying, Domino: Episode 5 - If Else, Emotional Hurt, Episode Related, Gen, Past Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-10 03:58:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17418665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: In which old wounds are reopened, but it might end up being for the best.





	Raw

Gigi closed the door to her office, locked it, and leaned against it, slowly sliding down until she was sitting on the floor. God, this whole thing with Wickham was so terrible. He still wasn't responding to her texts, which shocked her; she thought he would answer. Maybe that was just her being stupid and ridiculous and naïve again, but she really thought he would answer her.

"God, I'm so stupid," Gigi whispered to her knees, which she had drawn up to her chest. "I'm not any smarter than last time. I thought I had grown so much, but I clearly haven't." The thought of last time made Gigi's heart hurt.

"I can't believe I still let him control me like this," Gigi whispered to herself, putting her head on her knees. "I can't believe I never saw how much he was controlling me before." Gigi had watched Lydia's videos, but she couldn't manage to watch more than one at a time before she felt like she would throw up all over her office. Watching Wickham with her, manipulating her… It was almost as if Gigi were on the other side of the camera, leaning against Wickham as he softly poisoned her against Darcy. She couldn't believe she had been so stupid and naïve. She couldn't blame Lydia; she had been sucked in the exact same way.

Gigi realized she was crying and wiped angrily at her face to stop the tears. She had to do another Domino demo, which she couldn't do if she looked like shit. Steeling herself, Gigi stood, checked her face in the mirror, and sat in front of the camera.

"Hey, everyone. Gigi here," Gigi began, knowing that this was more downhearted than her other demos. "Well, you already knew that but I…uh." Gigi sighed. "Well, if you're wondering if he has, um, messaged me back yet, that would be a no."

Gigi paused, a pause that was far too long, but Domino would edit it out. She took a deep, shaky breath to center herself again. "And if you're wondering if I have messaged him several more times after that, that would be a yes. Whatever." That wasn't even remotely how Gigi felt, and she surreptitiously checked her phone, not wanting to check her messages where everyone could see. Still nothing.

"William and Fitz are still trying, but whatever he did, whatever deal he made, I just can't-" Gigi paused, composing herself again. "I just can't believe that video is gonna get out."

Gigi stopped again, wiping at her eyes to prevent any tears that thought they might form. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I'm just so sorry. The lives at the family…because of him…" Guilt washed over Gigi. "I should have seen this coming and I should have warned everybody months ago." Darcy would tell Gigi she was wrong, that no one could have seen that coming, but Gigi knew it was true. If she had just said something, back before Lizzie and Lydia started arguing, then maybe Lydia would have seen and she wouldn't have been so susceptible to Wickham's charms, and then this whole fiasco wouldn't have happened. It was Gigi's fault. She had to put it right.

"What the hell," Gigi said, feeling horribly reckless. "Domino, call…" Gigi paused, steeling herself, "George Wickham."

The phone rang and nothing happened. Finally…  _"Record your message after the tone."_  Gigi hated herself for feeling relieved. She paused for a moment.

"Um, hey George, it-it's Gigi." She paused again. She wasn't ready for this, didn't know why she thought she was ready for it… But she had to. "I, um, I've been texting you and I really need for you to call me back. We need to talk. It's important." The message done, Gigi added, "End call," giving Domino the command to stop what was one of the most horrible things she had ever made herself do. She took a shaky breath and put her head in her hands for a few moments, just breathing. She had to calm herself before she did something embarrassing, like throw up or pass out.

When she was calm enough, Gigi straightened. "Well, it was worth a shot." Suddenly, the little icon popped up on the screen, reading "Incoming call from George Wickham."

Gigi couldn't breathe. She didn't want Wickham to call her back, didn't want to talk to him… But she had started this. She told him to call her. "Answer," she said, sounding more confident than she felt. "Hello."

 _"Hey, Peach,"_  Wickham said. His voice was just the same as Gigi remembered. Thankfully, it was only his voice. The nickname made her feel uncomfortable and she wondered if Wickham had called Lydia "Peach" as well; she had heard him say it to Lizzie in her videos.  _"Wow, is that you?"_

"Hi, George," Gigi said slowly, carefully.

 _"Wow, it's been forever. I miss your face."_  Wickham didn't seem to be picking up on any of Gigi's discomfort.  _"Oh, hey, are you still swimmin'?"_  And there was his stupid habit of dropping the g at the end of a word, which used to make Gigi's stomach turn in pleasure and now made it turn with nausea.  _"Wait, what's this? Push for video…"_

It hit Gigi what Wickham was going to do right before he did it. "Oh no, no, don't push that!" she cried, but it was too late. Wickham's face appeared on the screen, looking awed.

 _"Oh, that's cool,"_  he said, looking at Gigi as if she were some sort of strange science experiment. Gigi couldn't believe she had once thought that look meant he loved her.  _"Man, phones these days. Your brother continue to do amazing things."_  Wickham grinned, making Gigi want to die.  _"And you are just as pretty as I remember."_

"I-I need you to take down that website," Gigi asked firmly, not about to let Wickham's unsolicited and unwanted flirting get in her way. She had a mission, and she had to follow through.

 _"Gigi, I had nothing to do with that,"_  Wickham said, suddenly wearing the same begging look that had made Gigi do so many stupid things for him.  _"You gotta believe me."_

"George, don't lie to me," Gigi begged quietly.

 _"I can't do anything about it,"_  Wickham said, sounding a bit defensive.  _"The tape was stolen from us."_  Scratch that, he sounded  _very_ defensive. Too defensive. Now, more removed, Gigi could see that Wickham wasn't a very good actor; if the tape had truly been stolen, he would have been less defensive and more upset. Gigi shook her head.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked, even though she knew the answer. Because Wickham was a horrible person that only cared about money and not love, compassion, or trust.

 _"I was the victim here, just like her!"_  Wickham protested.  _"I'm sorry, but we were in love."_

"Just take it down," Gigi asked, knowing he wouldn't, but unable to stop herself from asking.

 _"I-I wish that I could, really. For everybody's sake."_  The lies made Gigi want to scream, want to throw herself through the screen and throttle Wickham until he told her the truth. But she couldn't, so she did the second best thing.

"Where are you?" she demanded. "Right now. Tell me where you are."

Wickham looked slightly stunned at the change in questioning.  _"I am,"_  he began,  _"I'm hiding out until this whole mess blows over. You know, if you were the one in the tape, you'd be doing the exact same thing."_  Gigi didn't believe Wickham for a second, but a horrible thought went through her mind. What if there were a tape of her? Gigi didn't think that Wickham had ever taped the two of them having sex, but that wasn't to say he wouldn't have. God, what if he had, and what if her position were Lydia's?  _"I can only imagine what she must be going through,"_  Wickham added, making Gigi want to kill him.  _"It's terrible."_

"George Wickham, just tell me where you are!" Gigi yelled, talking over Wickham, close to tears. She couldn't handle this much longer, she really couldn't.

 _"Look, I really hope that your brother finds who did this, because time's running out."_  The subtle threat made Gigi feel as if she might vomit. She clamped a hand over her mouth and shook her head, fighting tears.  _"I gotta go, g'bye,"_  Wickham added, disconnecting the call, which was at once what Gigi most and least wanted.

"Oh, I'm sorry, excuse me," she whispered as she started crying in earnest, ducking out of the frame. The tears refused to be stopped any longer, and almost before she knew it, Gigi was in half-hysterical tears. She pulled out her phone, fumbled with it, and finally selected Darcy's number.  _i need u_ , she typed with shaking fingers, her tears slowly stopping due to sheer force of will. Almost immediately, Domino told her that there was an incoming call from William Darcy. She wiped her eyes and sat back in front of the screen.

"Um, answer," she said, hoping her voice was steady. She hadn't exactly been expecting Darcy to call her, but then again, it wasn't exactly surprising.

 _"Gigi, what did you do?"_  Darcy asked, concern evident on every line of his face. He was walking down a hallway somewhere.

"I"m sorry, William," Gigi said, almost ready to cry again. "I called him. I know I wasn't supposed to, but I had to try. Please,  _please_  don't be mad at me."

 _"I'm not mad,"_ Darcy replied, looking less like Gigi's big brother and more like a father figure.  _"I only need to know if you're alright."_

It wasn't as simple a question as it seemed. "I-I don't- I don't know," Gigi replied. "I-I'm sorry. I know you warned me, but I had to try. I thought it would help!" Gigi added desperately.

 _"It did,"_  Darcy replied, the tiniest hint of a smile on his face.

"What?" Gigi asked, not sure of where he was going.

 _"He downloaded Domino,"_  Darcy added, his words full of significance. Gigi didn't quite understand.

"Yeah, he activated it and I saw his face and…" Suddenly, it struck Gigi. "And he downloaded the app! He accepted the terms of service! You can see his info, you can use that, right?"

Darcy smiled slightly.  _"Get some rest, Gigi,"_  he told her gently.  _"I will see you in a couple of days."_ The call ended. Gigi waited for a moment before remembering that Domino was still going.

"Domino, end recording," she said immediately, watching as the app stopped. Nausea swept over her again and Gigi only barely made it to her bathroom before she found herself vomiting into the toilet, tears streaming down her face again. It took a few moments for her to compose herself, but she did manage it, standing and splashing some water in her face.

"Get some rest," as if. Gigi was doing everything that she could do to help, and she didn't think she was done yet.


End file.
